Vivek Ramaswamy urges supporters not to believe polls in final Iowa pitch

Vivek Ramaswamy, the biotech entrepreneur who has gone all in on Iowa to jumpstart his presidential bid, urged supporters not to believe the polls during a final appearance at a Cedar Rapids brewery hours ahead of Monday night’s caucuses.

Ramaswamy has visited all 99 counties in Iowa twice and even rented an apartment in Des Moines during the final stretch of the campaign. He said on Monday he had done nearly 400 events in the state.

A final Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa poll on Saturday showed him with the support of 8% of likely Republican caucusgoers, trailing Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley for second place. DeSantis registered support with 16% of likely GOP caucusgoers while Haley had 20%. Trump held a commanding lead of 48% of likely caucusgoers in the poll.

“I think what we’ve seen is bordering on a kind of election interference in our GOP primary,” he told about 100 supporters on Monday. He went on to claim that his name wasn’t being included in polls when voters were asked who they support, causing him to register lower levels of support.

“I think the media has prebaked a narrative about this race that is disconnected from the reality of where people are on the ground, but does have an effect of shaping what some of those less engaged people who don’t come to events think about the race.”

Ramaswamy spoke for 30 minutes and then spent nearly 45 minutes taking questions from attendees on a range of topics, including immigration and gun rights. He also dismissed a last-minute attack from Trump, who urged his supporters over the weekend not to vote for Ramaswamy.

“Very sly, but a vote for Vivek is a vote for the ‘other side’ – don’t get duped by this. Vote for ‘TRUMP,’ don’t waste your vote! Vivek is not MAGA,”